Various small portable devices are currently available for use by motorists to internally seal and inflate pneumatic tires that have lost air due to puncture or leak. These devices typically consist of canisters of pressurized propellant gas and tire sealant which are removably connected to an inflation valve of a tire. Such devices are subject to several well-known limitations and disadvantages.
Prior art devices sought to maximize the convenience of their use and storage by minimizing their size. This has resulted in devices which store their contents at extremely high pressure, and which present a safety hazard. These high-pressure devices are susceptible to high temperatures, and therefore may burst and cause injury when left in extreme environments, such as a car on a hot summer day.
Other prior art devices sought to reduce the risk of injury by lowering the internal pressure and/or increasing the size of the canisters. This results in a less convenient device that is heavier and bulkier and/or one that carries less gas. Lower pressure canisters often are unable to fully inflate a flat tire. Other devices increase the gas content of canisters by removing sealing mixture to allow for more expanding gas. This results in reduced puncture or leak sealing effectiveness.
Another problem with prior art devices is their reliance on hazardous propellant gasses. Historically, ozone-depleting gasses were frequently used due to their high rate of expansion. Modernly, highly flammable propellants, such as methane and butane, are often used. Non-combustible propellant gasses may also be used, but yield lower expansion, and therefore often fail to provide enough gas to inflate a standard tire. Each of these propellant gasses have undesirable properties which make their use disadvantageous.
One prior art device, the Jaksa device (U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,145), teaches of an apparatus similar to the present invention. The Jaksa device, however, has numerous design flaws which limit its usefulness. First, the Jaksa device is simply a “tire sealant dispensing apparatus.” Thus, it is designed and useful only for the injection of tire sealant, and does not contemplate inflation of a flat tire. Second, the claimed purpose of the Jaksa device is to inject sealant into a tire to prevent future blowouts and punctures. The device is not intended to be used on a tire which has already experienced a blowout or puncture. The device does not provide or allow for air to inflate a flat tire.
Significantly, the Jaksa device is only usable at angles between horizontal and vertical; but not at angles which are purely horizontal and purely vertical. The present invention differs from the Jaksa device because it is specifically adapted to be used at a purely vertical angle.
Several prior art devices, the Crowley device (U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,550), the Vitack device (U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,622), and the Wells device (U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,601), contemplate storing compressed gas within the devices themselves. Inherent within these devices is the danger of explosion which accompanies storing contents at high pressure. These devices operate in contrast to the present invention which does not store its contents at high pressure. Rather, the present invention merely operates as a conduit, conducting compressed gas directly from an air source to a deflated device.
One prior art device, the Boetger device (U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,885) similarly operate as a mere conduit between an air source and a deflated device, but the Boetger device differs from the present invention because it does not incorporate a tire sealing mixture. The Boetger device operates merely to inflate a deflated device, and not to inflate and repair it, as does the present invention.
In view of the forgoing it is evident a need exists for a new product and method for effecting repair of tires and providing for inflation of tires and other pneumatic systems.